King of Thorn Vol. 1 - Review

January 31, 2008 Blog Posts 1 Comment

Creator: Yuji Iwahara
Publisher: TokyoPop
Age Rating: Older Teen
Genre: Action
RRP: $9.99
Review by: Kristen
Date of review: 10/31/08

Kasumi and her sister, Shizuku, were infected with the Medusa virus, which slowly turns their victim to stone-and there is no cure! Hope for salvation rests in Kasumi and a select few who are put into a cryogenically frozen state until a cure is found. But Shizuku is left behind, and in the not too distant future, Kasumi awakens to find herself in an unfamiliar world with terrifying beings roaming the terrain.
Resolving to unlock the mysteries of the disease and the fate of her twin sister, Kasumi struggles to survive in this treacherous world!

Based upon the plot above, I expected an average manga thriller, perhaps with moe vibes based on the cover image. What I got was a pleasant surprise.
Kasumi wakes up after an untold amount of time in the cryo-lab, which is now covered in leafy vegetation. Almost immediately the pace is set-they are immediately attacked by several monstrosities. Others wake with her, including a suspicious tattooed man and a man who claims to be a senator. Those who escape the initial attack crawl through the remains of the building, looking for a way to survive.

The art style is very heavy-the lines are thick, and a lot of black ink is used when drawing in mountain sides and dark backgrounds. It really adds to the atmosphere of this work. The character designs are not meant to be attractive, but rather, realistic, and the main cast of survivors has a nice balance to it. The best pieces of art are the myriad of creatures the survivors must deal with, though they may not be the most imaginative. Dinosaurs have been done before.

The story and pacing are where this manga really excels. It builds up a nice sense of suspense, and the story moves at a pace that feels real, though this is agonizingly slow for those of you who are used to manga that shock you with a plot twist every few pages. Any information is revealed slowly, and in a way that does not over dramatize it, which is a nice change. The journey and trials the characters go through are relentless, and even as a reader it is easy to feel breathless and worn down along with the characters.

The characters themselves are somewhat less developed than the world they inhabit, however. The only ones that are truly memorable are Kasumi and the tattooed man, whose name is revealed near the end of the book. This makes it easy for a reader to empathize with the situation, to some degree, but you also care less about what happens to underdeveloped characters, as well. This manga is not emotional, or at least not yet. It relies more on action and thrills than weepy lamentation, though that could change with the next book.

I hope the quality keeps up with the next installment, and that something gets revealed. This book toes the line between realism and annoying slowness, and shows signs of succumbing to the “multi page action scene with no text” syndrome. However, as of now, it’s definitely a series starter to pick up, especially if you enjoy thriller manga.

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Final Score

 

B

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